Aestus Malum
by tjenx1026
Summary: With the Dark Lord on the rise, Dumbledore decides the time for keeping Harry sheltered has come to an end. Training, Preparation, and Adventure await Harry and Friends. Will the training and preparation they receive be enough to fulfill the prophecy and turn the Tides of Darkness? H/HR, RW/LL, GW/DM


AESTUS MALUM

Chapter 1 - Plans For The Future

Headmasters Office, Hogwarts

June 23, 1996

Albus Dumbledore sat low in his chair, the weight of the world seemingly resting on his aging shoulders. His normally sparkling eyes held no vestiges of mirth on this night. His thoughts began to drift back through the past 16 years, memories of his failures brought to the fore of his mind by the events of these past days. Thoughts of those he had failed to protect, those who had willingly sacrificed their lives and happiness to his cause, his "Greater Good", those who had been betrayed and died, or the young man, likened to a Great-Grandson in his eyes, who at this very moment was probably torturing himself with remorse, regret, sorrow and guilt at the loss of yet another person he loved.

"Ah, Sirius", Dumbledore mused silently, "We will need men like you in the coming days, more than that Harry will need you. Forgive me my failings old friend."

His mind slowly fell back into its dark brooding, thoughts of James and Lily, two of the greatest gifts to the wizarding world, swirling in his mind. He remembered them in their school years, the day they were married, the day months later when James had burst into his office and told him they were expecting, the look of joy and anxiousness on their faces the first time they held Harry in their arms, their overwhelming grief when he had spoken of the prophecy, and finally the all encompassing grief and shame that overtook him when he had learned of their demise at the hands of Tom Riddle. Shaking himself from his reverie, Dumbledore pledged, "James, Lily, I could not protect you, I have tried my best to give Harry a chance at a normal childhood and in that I most certainly have failed, and I fear I may yet fail in my most important task of all. Harry must deafeat Lord Voldemort, he has proven himself time and time again that he can survive, and he has done so admirably, but I fear that he cannot defeat this evil if he maintains his current course. The time for shielding him has come to an end, I am sorry Lily but your son must now become the warrior you hoped he never would have to be. Harry shall not fail in his quest solely because of an old mans wish to protect him from the truth."

Allowing himself to return to the here and now, Albus Dumbledore, Champion of the Light, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Order of Merlin - First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump to the International Confederation of Wizards, and viewed by many as the greatest wizard of all time, drew upon his vast knowledge, ages of experience, and cunning worthy of Salazar Slytherin himself to begin the process of hammering out a plan. There were decisions to ponder, choices to make, people who must be sought out, alliances that must yet be forged. Running situation after situation through his mind, Dumbledore began to get a feel for what must be done. His decisions in the following days would determine the course of the war and ultimately greatly influence its outcome. With Fudge now all too happy to accept Voldemorts return, courtesy of seeing him in the middle of the Ministry with his own eyes, Dumbledore could count on the support of the ministry, though Fudge's days in office may be numbered perhaps he could still contribute to the effort. The Ministry itself posed a problem, full of Voldemort's supporters and spies, action must be taken to seperate the chaff from the wheat, so to speak. Just how to do that without giving Voldemort time to undermine his attempts to clean out the institution could pose a problem, he must speak with Kingsley and perhaps Amelia to begin this operation, which must be carried out without sewing too much dissent and discord. The side of the Light must be United if they were to stand any chance of emerging from this coming war victorious, and having the Ministry free of the Dark Lord's influence would help to bridge the gap that had developed between the government and the Order. Dumbledore allowed his planning to continue in the background as he pulled out his pendant from beneath his robes, the pendant hung on a chain around his neck, it was a blazing pheonix in flight with crossed wands underneath, and served as a means communication between him and the order. The spell that linked his amulet with those carried by the other members of the Order was a Protean charm, reminding himself to thank a certain bushy haired witch when he saw her, he grasped the medallion and gave it a squeeze, focusing on tomorrow at 10 AM while doing so, when he felt a mild heat in his fingertips he knew that his message calling a meeting for the Order had been sent. Tucking the necklace back under his robes he turned his train of thought to the most important piece of the puzzle, and the subject of most of his planning: Harry Potter.

Yes, The-Boy-Who-Lived would factor heavily in the war against the darkness, but he was young and untrained, unfocused and lacking motivation and drive. That would be the first obstacle that would have to be overcome, Dumbledore realized, he needed someone who could push him and enlighten him on the subtle joys of learning. At this the first smile that had crossed his face in some time brightened his features and that trademark twinkle made an appearance in his eyes, he knew just the witch for the job. Now to get her to agree to training with Harry, which thinking about it, he didn't foresee any difficulties with accomplishing that. Harry may be a little harder to convince but it shouldn't be anything that he couldn't handle. Now what to do with Ronald, he would feel left out if he found out that Harry and Hermione were receiving advanced training without him, and he would be jealous if he discovered that they would be doing so together, but he definitely could not be allowed to train with them. His procrastination knew no bounds and if allowed to participate in with their training he would mope and complain and would only harm their progress in the end, but what to do with him? He did have an innate sense of strategy that could come in handy if nurtured properly, his jealousy and willingness to abandon Harry were both traits that needed to be removed and maybe giving him a position where he could stand in his own light and not be constantly in the shadow of Harry, remind him he is not just a side kick but a friend and maybe he could begin to appreciate himself and let go of some of the jealousy and resentment he felt towards his best friend. The arrangements would have to be made to get Ron the proper tutelage, Dumbledore made a mental note to speak with Remus and Moody maybe they had someone who could help. Turning his thoughts back to Harry he pondered as to what he needed to be taught and who would teach him. He also needed a safe place to learn away from the constant dangers in Great Britain, some place with open space and the anonymity that Harry so desperately desired. An idea struck Dumbledore suddenly... "Ah, yes that could work out quite nicely I believe...", he muttered to himself as he dashed out two letters handing them off to Fawkes, before heading to his chambers hoping sleep would find himself this night.

#4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey

June 24, 1996 5:00 AM

Harry Potter woke with a start, cold sweat running down his body, though the nightmare was over he was still haunted by the images in his dream. As the silent tears streamed down his cheeks his mind replayed the scenes that had haunted his sleep since he and his friends had misguidedly went to the Department of Mysteries on a mission to rescue his god-father from the clutches of Voldemort. Of course this was a ruse to get him to take the prophecy from the shelf. With a groan at the memory of Dumbledore relaying the prophecy to him a few days prior brought forth a new wave of grief and pain. A killer.. He must become a killer, or fall at the hands of one.

"I don't want to kill anyone, not even that sorry bastard.." Harry muttered to himself as he drug himself out of his bed. "If I kill how am I better than Voldemort or any one of his lackeys. Why is it always me, why cant somebody else get shafted by fate for once?"

In this foul mood Harry put on some sweats and his trainers and headed out the door onto Privet Drive, figuring a short run through the park would help get his mind off things. However no amount of physical exercise would get the dream out of his mind. In his mind he replayed over and over the scenes of everyone who got close to him getting hurt or killed. First it was his parents, then Cedric, followed by Ginny getting a broken ankle, Ron being attacked by a brain, then Sirius was killed by her deranged lunatic of a cousin Bellatrix Lestrange, and to top it all off his greatest friend and supporter Hermione Granger being hit by an unknown curse by Antonin Dolohov, causing serious injuries and a huge scar, when they had left Hogwarts Madam Pomfrey, the healer at Hogwarts had Hemione taking 10 or more potions a day to try and heal her body and reverse some of the damage. When she fell in the Department of Mysteries, Harry had panicked, he thought she was dead. His brain had shut down, his breath caught in his chest, he saw his future slipping away. In that moment he knew that Hermione meant more to him than anyone else, yes he would miss Sirius terribly, and he still blamed himself for getting the only father figure he had ever known killed, but he felt he would eventually move on. With Hermione it was different, when he saw her go down he didn't want to continue, he didn't want revenge, he just wanted to hold her close to him and cry for his best friend.

This realization had confused Harry at first, he thought it odd that he considered Hermione his best friend and the most significant person in his life, though after sitting down and rationalizing it to himself he realized that Hermione was the one person he could always count on to be there for him, the first to stand up to him when he was being an ass or let his anger get out of control, and the first one to comfort him, the only person who accepted him for who he was and all that entailed and never questioned it, the person who stood by his side when everyone else had turned their backs on him. Ron had unknowingly lost the title of his best friend in fourth year when Harry's name had come out of the Goblet of Fire, his first reaction had been that Harry had done it himself for more fame and attention, even Dumbledore didn't believe him at first, nor did the rest of the school. Hermione had helped him deal with Ron's betrayal and supported him every step of the way through the Triwizard Tournament. Yes she was a greater friend than he felt he deserved especially after he had completely ignored her advice and let his "saving people thing" get the better of him, which led them to the Ministry and resulted in Sirius' death and her near fatal injuries. It was definitely his fault that she had been injured and hoped that she would forgive him, he hated to consider what his life would be like without her. As Harry mind dealt with his guilt ridden thoughts, he absentmindedly opened the door to his aunt and uncles house only to be startled out of his reverie by the angry shouts of his fat-ass Uncle Vernon Dursley, the bane of his existence and the largest contributor to his horrid childhood.

"Boy!" Vernon shouted, spewing spittle down his chin and all over Harry's face, "I have to be at work in one hour, you have exactly twenty minutes to have my breakfast on the table or I'm gonna belt you across the face until even your freak headmaster is unable to recognize you! And where the hell have you been? You know better than to show your sorry face around this neighborhood, there is no telling how many people saw you, I don't want everyone thinking we let a criminal from our household run around in the streets without supervision." By the time his uncle had finished his rant, his face had turned a sickly puce color from the strain of yelling without breathing. Harry suppressed a laugh, clamping his teeth down on his tongue forcefully to maintain his calm. Biting back comments about them letting Dudley, his whale of a cousin, run wild in Little Whinging, and him being the only one in the household who wasn't a criminal, Harry just dropped his gaze and continued into the kitchen. Preparing Vernons breakfast only took fifteen minutes, and as he finished cooking, after spitting in the eggs he decided he would write to Hermione and see how she was faring. Putting the plate of bacon eggs and toast on the table, he headed up to his room to start that letter.

Hermione,

I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If I had listened to you Sirius would be alive and you wouldn't have been hurt. I hope you are doing well and your injuries are healing nicely. Please forgive me. I don't know what I would do without you. You are a better friend than I deserve. I just wish that I had listened to you. You are always right and I don't know why I didn't believe you. I'm sorry. How is your summer so far? How are your parents? You want to come rescue me from the Dursleys by any chance?

Love,

Harry

Not entirely satisfied with the letter but hoping it conveyed how sorry he was and how much he needed her forgiveness, he tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and lovingly stroked her feathers.

"I need you to take this letter to Hermione, OK girl? And don't come back without a reply, I don't care what you have to do, just make sure she writes back.." Harry muttered to his owl, all the while rubbing her head. She affectionately nipped his finger before flying out the open window and out of sight. His primary objective now complete, Harry settled down on his bed, focusing on his Occlumency shields for the first time in weeks, he drifted off to sleep, hoping his efforts would keep the dreams at bay at least for a while.

#12 Grimmauld Place, London

June 24th, 1996 9:30 AM

Albus Dumbledore stood at the head of the table in the rundown kitchen, waiting patiently for the rest of the Order members to arrive. Seated in the chairs next to his were Remus Lupin, the last of the true Marauders, to his left sat Nymphadora Tonks, across the table from the haggard looking lycanthrope sat Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, to Moody's right sat Dumbledore's deputy headmistress Minerva McGonogall, beside her was the diminutive Charms professor Filius Flitwick and Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. No others were yet present, and for that the headmaster was glad. These few were the only ones he trusted with the majority of his plans.

"Welcome," Dumbledore started, "I'm glad you could all make it here early, there are some things that I would like to discuss with you all. This information is top secret and is not to leave this room. Do you all understand?" Looking around the room, he saw curiosity on all there faces, but they nodded their heads in assent before he continued. "All of you here are privy with the information that Voldemort had hoped to retrieve from the Ministry, the prophesy that Mr. Potter was lured into the Department of Mysteries for?" Again nods around the table.

"I take it this is about the boy then, Albus?" Moody drawled flatly.

"That is correct Alastor.." Dumbledore replied impatiently, "We know that it must be Mr. Potter that defeats Voldemort in the end, but personally I do not believe that he can succeed, if he were to face the Dark Lord right now I do not think he would win.. Survive? Most likely. Harry has proven that he has the survival instincts necessary to escape from Voldemort, but to defeat him? No. I think not."

"Jes' where exactly are ya goin with this headmaster?" Minerva asked cautiously, her Scottish broque coming through heavily in her despair at his assessment. "Are you sayin he can't win?"

"Yes and No, Minerva, I'm saying that in order for him to win, he will need help. From all of us and as many allies as we can find. He will need intense training. That is why I called you all here early. To discuss what I had in mind.. I was thinking last evening about just this situation. My first thought was to have him train with the Aurors here but with all the spies in the Ministry word would surely reach Voldemort and he would do everything in his power to kill Harry before he has a chance to learn all he needs to know. Nor can we train him personally, we will all be too busy in the coming months, for there is much to be accomplished and I have jobs for each of you that must be accomplished if we are to gain the upper hand in this war.."

"So what are you proposing?" Remus interjected, glancing at Dumbledore trying to gain some inkling of what the old man was cooking up.

"Simple he will train out of the country.. I have an acquaintance in the states, he's trustworthy, and more than capable of handling the first phase of Harry's training. I'm sure you all heard of a young man who won the International Dueling Championships for the last three years?" Dumbledore said.

"You mean the Jenkins boy, Albus? Are you sure? I heard he was good, but I didn't know he was taking on any apprentices yet. He's still new to the game and a little green around the gills." Flitwick questioned, being a former duelist champion, he had kept up with the happenings in the competitions since he had retired from the circuit decades previous.

"Yes that is the one, Filius. He isn't taking anyone on as an apprentice but I contacted him late last night and he agreed that he would teach Harry everything he knows, which is quite a lot from what I have seen from the tapes of his matches. He is a sight to watch I must say, he might could press me in a duel if we ever crossed wands. He is also doing this on his time for no pay, he said and I quote, "I'll do it if for no other reason than to stop a madman from destroying your country, and if something I can teach your boy will help him to save even one person, then it would be worth it." At any rate he was the best choice available, he has a large plot of land that shares a property line with the Potter Ranch." Dumbledore replied.

"The Potter Ranch? I don't remember James mentioning a ranch? Or even having property in the US for that matter... Where is it and how do you know about it?" Remus remarked, confused by the revelations from the headmaster.

"I'm not surprised, Remus, I seriously doubt that James even knew he owned property stateside. It is a rather large stretch of land but the house there is small and run down, Mr. Jenkins has agreed to help Mr. Potter renovate and make the place habitable again. He has already begun stabilizing the structure so its safe to walk in if I'm not mistaken. He also made an interesting point about contingency plans." said Dumbledore chuckling to himself, he was about to continue speaking when the other members of the Order of the Phoenix began to trickle in, "We will continue this after the meeting."

Dumbledore rose from his seat to greet the people coming in, shaking their hands as they passed to take their seats. The Weasleys were the first group to arrive, Arthur and Molly, Bill and Fleur, Charlie, Fred Dir and George, they were followed in by Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, and Severus Snape. Finally came Hagrid, Hestia Jones, Amelia Bones, Mundungus Fletcher and Augusta Longbottom. Once all in their seats Dumbledore began the meeting.

"Good morning, glad you all could make it. First order of business, Mundungus, what is the word on the street, we know Voldemort is laying low and licking his wounds, but this reprieve will not last. Any word on his movements or what he is planning?"

"Aye. Word is he is quietly recruitin, he lost more of his inner circle than he anticipated at the Ministry and he don't like where his numbers are right now, other than tha' its all quiet." Dung replied sloppily taking a heavy quaff out of his flask before sitting back in his chair.

"Severus, anything more that you would like to add?" Dumbledore continued.

"For the most part he has been keeping his own confidences, Potter rattled him in the Ministry and demolished his plan to play shadow games while the Ministry kept it's head lodged firmly up it's ass. He is openly recruiting and new recruits wash in every day, some more willingly than others. He has infiltrated the Ministry on many levels, I do not know the identities of most of them but I do know Pius Thicknesse and Delores Umbridge have recently joined. I am not sure but I believe he is gearing up to overthrow the Ministry, I cannot be certain that is his intention but he is infiltrating on so many levels and his main focus is on them for the moment. As he was close to a take over before Potter beat him fifteen years ago, I would assume that is a priority. Also I do not expect this quiet reprieve to last very long. With all the new recruits coming in I fear he will soon begin to train them, his preferred method, of course, being turning his men loose in highly populated muggle areas and magical areas that are not well defended and letting them wreak havoc." Snape concluded his report before adding, "If that is all Headmaster I should return before my absence is noted." And with a swish of his cape he stalked out of the house, leaving the remaining to ponder his assessments.

Continuing the meeting Dumbledore called his next two agents for a report, "Amelia, Kingsley, what of the Aurors and the DMLE?"

Standing Kingsley replied, "The Auror Corps numbers are at an all time low thanks to our Minister, though we are trying to remedy this situation. We are recruiting non stop, and not just from the UK, we are asking for reinforcements from all our allied nations of the ICW. Numbers are rising but slowly I'm afraid, it could be some time before we can amass the necessary fighting force to openly face Voldemort although I do not see open conflict with his forces happening for some time. Amelia..."

With that he turned over the report to the head of his sister division, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who began, "Right now our numbers are strong, while not as well trained as the Aurors we are capable of handling lesser tasks which free up the Aurors should an emergency occur, we also stand ready to support them should we find ourselves in a large scale conflict. For the moment we are keeping the peace and policing areas Voldemort might try to target to gain recruits. We are also recruiting but it seems with the Dark Lord out in the open not many people want to join our ranks."

"Ok, anyone else have anything of importance to report?" Dumbledore paused, and upon seeing the resulting heads shaking no, he continued, "Then I adjourn this meeting and request we meet back here in two weeks to go over new developments. Thank you all for coming, be safe and keep your eyes and ears open."

As all the members filed out save for the five he had called in early, Dumbledore turned back to them and sat down before inquiring, "Now. Where was I?"

"You were making some vague remark about contingency plans." Moody reminded him, his magical eye spinning wildly, quickly confirming there were no lingering guests in the house.

"Ah yes, I had hoped they would be unnecessary but I am afraid that Severus has confirmed my fears and Mr. Jenkins' suspicions. He had asked me if we had plans in place for if Voldemort had taken control of the Ministry. At this time we do not, but here we are to remedy this situation. First, the Wizengamot convenes at the beginning of next week, my first order of business will be to call for a vote of no confidence in Fudge. His time in office has come to an end and I'm afraid we need someone more capable, that is why I am going to recommend you Kingsley." At this he paused to let his words sink in and get some feedback before moving on.

"Why me Dumbledore? You know I have no aspirations to the the Minister for Magic." The dark auror vented heatedly.

"Because you are capable of doing all the things necessary to prevent Voldemort from taking over the Ministry and in the event it does fall, execute our plans to move our government into exile. Now as to the plan, if elected you will need to discretely put in an order at Gringotts, so that in the event that we lose control of the Ministry the goblins will shut off all access to the Ministry's coffers. No sense in putting even more money in his pockets, the second thing that needs to be done, is a large scale investigation inside the ministry. Question every single employee, down to the last janitor, under the influence of Veritaserum, any employees found to be working with Voldemort or sympathetic to his cause should immediately be terminated, and those who have received the Dark Mark should be imprisoned. Lastly all important documents that are unnecessary in the day to day operations should be stored in Gringotts, and at the end of every day all documentation should be forwarded to said vault. This will help blind Voldemort to what is going on inside the ministry and prevent him from gaining too much information in the unfortunate event that the Ministry does fall." Dumbledor finished his plan to protect the government, and looking around he was met with stunned expressions.

"Now that you all know the plan as it stands right now, in the meantime Remus I need you to make contact with the werewolves and feel out where they stand or if they have already sided with Voldemort, Tonks, Alastor I need you two to very quietly begin to build support for Kingsley, now if you will excuse me I have a very important meeting with Mr. Potter. Good day, I trust you can see yourselves out." And with that Dumbledor turned on the spot and disappeared from the "Grim Old Place".

#4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey

June 26th, 1996 11:00 AM

Harry was asleep on his bed in the smallest room, when a high pitched screech followed by a crash of breaking glass awoke him. He immediately grabbed his wand and throwing his invisibility cloak over himself he made for the top of the stairs, preparing him for the worst. What he saw was almost enough to make him fall down the stairs in laughter. Albus Dumbledore was standing in the middle of the living room, and judging the look on his aunt's face he had apparated straight inside forgoing the usual knock on the door entirely, the shock must have caused Petunia to drop one of the plates she had been washing. Pocketing his wand and removing his cloak, he continued down the stairs greeting the headmaster as he walked.

Upon hearing his greeting, Dumbledore turned, "Harry my boy, just the wizard I was hoping to see. May we speak in private?"

Nodding his head in the affirmative, he spun on his heels and lead Dumbledore up the stairs to his room. When they both were inside, Dumbledore closed the door and with a wave of his hand the door was encased in a white glow, which quickly faded.

"Never can be too careful these days, as I am sure you know. So Harry how are you feeling? Better than when we had our little chat in my office I hope?" he inquired.

"A little I suppose..." Harry replied, "What brings you by my little slice of heaven?"

"Ah, sarcasm, and used so well," Dumbledore began, chuckling to himself under his breath, "Well Harry there are several things that bring me by here today. First is this." He pulled a large envelope sealed with the Gringotts crest and handed it to Harry, who took it surprised at its weight, before setting it on his bed beside him.

"What is it?"

"A summons to attend the reading of Sirius' will, which is being held today at Gringotts at 1 PM , I am sorry about this Harry, and I know you do not want it, but it needs to be taken care of, before you can do what must be done. Which is part of the other reason I came here today." He answered honestly, feeling guilty at laying another burden on the shoulders of a young man who already had been through too much.

"I understand professor, honestly I was expecting this sooner or later, I would rather have Sirius alive than another mountain of gold, but what can you do?" He asked rhetorically, shoulders slumped in agony and defeat. "What else did you want to speak with me about Headmaster?"

"Harry, if you found yourself face to face with Voldemort right now, with no way of escape except for death or victory, do you believe you could defeat Voldemort?"

"No, Professor, I don't" Harry paused tentatively, "I don't want to become a killer in the first place and more than that I have only escaped his presence before by chance, and a little luck."

"Well that is the main reason I am here Harry, I don't believe you could defeat him at this moment either. That is why I would like to offer you a once in a lifetime opportunity, intense training to prepare you for the final battle, whenever that may be. It will also help you escape from here much earlier than you had hoped." Dumbledore added the last purely as extra incentive to accept, letting that hang in the air for a moment before proceeding to finish his explanation. "The training schedule will be very demanding, much of what you cover will be post NEWT level, to help with this Minister Fudge in what will probably be his last significant act in that position, has agreed to break the trace on your wand, and grant you full majority in the wizarding world. This will grant you access to the entirety of your Black inheritance as well as allow you access to the ancestral Potter Vaults as well. Both will be necessary for your training should you chose to accept it. If that is what you want, then you must promise me that you will give it your best, every day, you will be learning in the next year or two what it takes most wizards a lifetime to learn, if they ever learn it at all.. You must be willing to dedicate yourself to this training. Can you do that? Will you participate in this training course I have planned out for you?" Dumbledore looked at Harry, who was lost in thought, a look of deep contemplation on his face as he considered his options and what was being offered. Harry decided that there were stipulations to his participation which he didn't know if Dumbledore would be willing to agree to but he felt he could not do this without these concessions.

"Yes Professor Dumbledore, I will take the training, and I promise to give it everything I've got, I will train as if my life depended on it, which in this case it actually does. But there are conditions.." He replied confidently, trying to show Dumbledore how important these "conditions" actually were.

"Such as?", the headmaster inquired, unsure the demands Harry might have.

"I want Ron and Hermione to receive the training as well." Harry replied matter-of-factually. "And I want the details on what you will be teaching us."

"That is not a problem, I had already planned for them to be trained as well, Hermione will be training with you, I believe that her studious nature would benefit you greatly, and she would serve as motivational support. Mr. Weasley however is fated to train elsewhere, as he is rather, how do I put this, Lazy and his procrastination would only hinder your learning. However he will be receiving some of the same subject matter as you and Miss Granger will be studying, but his talents lie outside the school of magic so his program has been tailored to his interests. I assume you have played wizards chess against him?" Dumbledore finished with a smirk, obviously he knew that almost everyone in Gryffindor had suffered a humiliating defeat at Ron's hand at some point or another.

"Yea, no fun either, never even get close to winning." Harry smiled at his answer starting to see where Dumbledore was heading with this.

"Then as you know he has quite an immeasurable talent for tactics, his training will develop those tactics from the chessboard to the battlefield. I think this is an advantageous step, as it will help to have someone who can develop a rolling strategy when it counts. As for the details, I will tell you what I can, first it will not be I that you train with, your instructors name is Trey Jenkins, he is an American Duelist and has held the International Dueling Championship for the last two years. He will teach you many many things far more than I have time to cover in this visit but you will know soon enough. I know you will learn how to cast faster and more accurately, chain spells together effectively, wandless and non-verbal spellcasting, he knows many ways to boost baseline magical power, he also mentioned heavy physical, weapons, and hand to hand combat training. He will fill you in on specifics when you arrive later this evening."

"Where will I be training? Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"No, we felt it best for your training to remain a secret for as long as possible, with the spies in the ministry that rules out the auror training facilities, Hogwarts is just too open and there are eyes everywhere. The only option was to ship you out of the country where your identity will remain anonymous and no one will be the wiser. This afternoon after attending the reading of Sirius' will we will pick up the supplies you will need from Diagon Alley, you will then take an international portkey to the Potter Ranch in the US. Texas to be more exact, there is a small magical community about 10 miles away. Mr. Jenkins has an adjoining tract of land next to yours and that is where you will train. Although for the first week I believe will be sorting out repairs to you home there on the property. It is in a bad state of disrepair, I will be sending Dobby and Winky with you to help. Dobby has already bonded with you and claims you as his master already, I recommend bonding with Winky as well. Make sure however you do not claim them as slaves, you must claim them as free-employees and pay them. That way they can defend you if something untoward were to happen. There is one other thing I need you to do while your there, your property there is extensive, well in excess of one thousand acres. The Order believes that Voldemort is targeting the Ministry and will try a hostile take over. We are doing what we can to prevent this, but should the worst happen we will need a safe haven where we can fall back to and regroup, and use as a base of operations. I believe your ranch is the perfect place for this as it is quite large. Mr. Jenkins has also graciously agreed to allow us to use a portion of his land as well. This will become a magical community of sorts, a New Britain, if you will, so it will need to be warded heavily, and placed under the Fidelius Charm once all construction is done. It will need to be self-sustaining and have a few housing compounds, a building for the Ministry to take refuge and operate out of, a medical wing, greenhouses, I believe there is already a barn, but there will need to be a few more. You will need cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, and horses as well as preparing and planting the fields. The crops must be able to grow year round to provide food, so once the wards and protections are set a climate control ward will need to be set allowing you to control the temperature, wind, and rainfall. I would also recommend a Cannery so all crops that are grown can be preserved and stockpiled. Which also means a warehouse to store everything in and silos for storing grain. You will also need to hire workers to take care of the day to day labors so you can focus on your training. All the specifics I will leave up to you and I am sure Trey will have suggestions as well and will provide you with any instruction you need. You may want to check out his estate before deciding your layout, and get some ideas from him. Unfortunately this will be an expensive project but I believe it is one that will pay back enormously in the end. Maybe not in monetary gain but it will offer protection to all those whom we cannot house at Hogwarts. I know you do not care for money and you would not be able to spend even the Potter Vaults in a single lifetime and the Black vault is just as large, or else I would not ask this of you." Dumbledore's long winded explanation ended with Harry stuck somewhere between shocked and sick. Unsure how Harry would take this request, he began to fidget while waiting for a response. After several minutes Harry began to wrap his head around what needed to be done and the possible protections it could offer to those that would have nowhere to go, and the advantages of being prepared in case the worst happened. Once his mind settled on the good he could do with his inheritance and how many lives could be saved his choice was a simple one.

"If it protects people from death and despair and allows us to help those who need it, who am I to refuse. Which gives me an idea, I need to speak to Remus immediately, can you contact him quickly professor and bring him here. How many workers do you think it would take to work a compound of that size?" Harry asked lighting up at the possibility of helping the war effort on two fronts.

"Maybe fifty, possibly more, and I will contact Remus now." Dumbledore replied, curious as to what Harry was thinking, he grasped his Order medallion firmly, while concentrating on Remus Lupin, IMMEDIATELY as the metal began to cool he activated the homing charm to guide the wolf to them.

A few seconds later an anxious looking Lupin materialized in front of the pair, wand drawn in a battle stance. He instantly recognized Harry and Dumbledore both were smiling at him so there was no danger, he slowly lowered his wand before stowing it in its holster. Quirking an eyebrow at the two wizards in front of him he asked,

"Ok, so whats so important you felt it necessary to scare me to death with an SOS call?", eying Dumbledore expectantly waiting for an answer, the old man just shrugged his shoulders, seemingly indifferent, then pointed at Harry.

"He's the one who requested an audience with you, I am waiting on an explanation myself. Harry?" Dumbledore questioned.

Harry with a sheepish look on his face implored, "Remus how have you been?"

"Don't tell me you dragged me here to ask me that, please, please tell me that is not the case." Remus replied, enjoying taking the mickey out on Harry.

"No. Its not. I wanted to know if Dumbledore had you acting as a liaison to the werewolves again?"

Remus, taken aback for an instant at the directness of the question, glanced at Dumbledore who nodded, before answering, "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"What is the main point of contention that keeps them from joining our side, or at least not joining with Voldemort?"

Taking a moment to carefully consider the question, and deduce the best answer before replying, "Well I would have to say its mostly due to the way they are treated by most wizards, all the laws restricting them, no one will hire a werewolf so they are poor and the price of the Wolfsbane potion is ridicilous and only getting higher, add to that we are openly discriminated against and you have your reasons."

"Would it help your mission if you could tell them of a place that is hiring, good pay, living quarters, cells to stay in during their change each month, and the Wolfsbane potion provided at no charge?" Harry intoned quietly, hoping the older lycanthrope did not think him foolish.

"Of course, that would be a huge step toward gaining their trust, and it would raise my standing in the pack if I were to bring an offer like this to them. The only problem is Harry, is that to my knowledge such a place does not exist, if it had I wouldnt have had to work in the muggle world all those years." Excited at the possibilities at first his voice ended in a depressed tone.

"It may not exist now but it will soon, tell them Potter Ranch will be hiring soon." Harry said smiling and his fathers friend and the last remaining link that he had to his parents.


End file.
